


baby you should never be lonely

by etherealbarnes



Category: PRISTIN (Band), SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Domestic Fluff, Dorms, F/M, gentleman mingyu, jung nunu gets all the boys she want, kang rena is a smol bean, kim mingyu is a marvel trash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 11:08:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14893487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etherealbarnes/pseuds/etherealbarnes
Summary: “My roommate is taking the same course as you,” Dokyeom told her after Eunwoo let it spill that Yaebin was taking animation programming.“Oh. Who is it? I might not know though, there are too many boys taking the course.”Dokyeom wiped crumbs at the corner of Eunwoo’s lips. Yaebin fought the urge to cringe. Eunwoo looked happy. Yaebin will try to be happy too.“Kim Mingyu. Our room is on the south wing, fourth floor, room 5,” Dokyeom shared. It was a strange piece of information to share, but Yaebin reckoned maybe he was trying to keep the conversation going.“Oh. Seen him. Rarely talked though.”or: Several times Yaebin crashed at Mingyu's room and the one time she wanted nothing more than to just stay.





	baby you should never be lonely

**Author's Note:**

> Work done from this prompt: My roommate got it on with yours yesterday and I don’t think I can face them for a while after hearing the sounds they made last night. Mind if I stayed with you for a while? From the colormayfade prompt generator on tumblr. Title stolen from Parachute's Lonely With Me
> 
> Yebin is spelt as Yaebin here because that one interview where she said she liked her name spelt like that better.
> 
> One of those fics where it literally wrote itself.

The first time it happened, Yaebin wasn’t in her room. She'd spent the night in the 24 hours library trying her hardest to finish the performance report required for her final grade. She finished it around 4.30 in the morning. Double checked her content structures, asked Hansol to beta her sentence variation (she promised to treat him coffee for a week), and finally sent the report at 6 am with 2 hours to spare as the deadline inches at 8. Done.

She had seriously considered just sleeping on the wooden table; too tired to walk back to the residential blocks but fought the weariness by comforting herself with the thought of her warm, soft blankets.  _ Patience will be rewarded _ , she always talk herself into. The library was too cold and chair too hard for her to properly have a decent sleep anyway. She deserved a better reward than uncomfortable resting. So she packed her laptop and few research materials and plugged her ears with Cheeze playing.

The walk back to her room felt too long, but Yaebin; having a degree in the art of making herself comfortable and snug and a black belt in not giving in to urges to just drop down and sleep on the floor, made it. What she saw after opening the door though, was an entirely different sort of urge. One that involved throwing her roommate out of the window, probably. She'll fight that one too.

Her first response was to blow air through her nose. The second one was to close her eyes and taking a deep breath.  _ It's okay, you weren't there _ , she reasoned with herself.

The residential blocks offered one bedroom, a bath and a living space in each unit. Pretty luxurious and comes with a cost, which was why most of the students room up with partners. The bedroom will most probably have bunk beds to save space, and the living space filled with kitchenette, work desks just big enough and a couch.

Right now, on Yaebin’s very own couch were two bodies tangled with each other, covered by thin layer of discarded clothings. Eunwoo was resting her head in the crook of a nameless guy’s shoulder and both of them had skin exposed more than necessary; the layer of clothing did it bare minimum on that part. Yaebin grimaced, imagining how it probably played out; Eunwoo stumbling into the room with the guy -Yaebin thought she'd seen him somewhere- drunk and a mess. It was a Friday night, and she knew Eunwoo liked going out.

Well, Yaebin wasn't about to waste anymore time just standing there and not getting the sleep she deserved. She'll give Eunwoo the forgiving thought that maybe Eunwoo didn't know she'll be returning earlier than 8. So Yaebin put her laptop and bag down on her work desk quietly and disappeared into the room, all weary and tired and uncomfortable.

-

When Yaebin woke around noon later, the guy was gone and Eunwoo was fixing leftover fried rice. Yaebin yawned quietly and tied her unkempt hair as she walked out the bedroom.

“G’morning,” Eunwoo greeted her, all bright smiles and soft eyes.

“I think it's noon already, but mornin’,” Yaebin answered as she sat at her work desk. She'd wanted to dangle off the couch, but changed her course as memories of the morning earlier invaded her mind. Eunwoo passed her a bowl. She brought her own chair next to Yaebin and set her laptop and bowl on Yaebin’s desk.

“Is What's Wrong with Secretary Kim okay? I'm only at episode 3 though,” Eunwoo asked.

Yaebin hummed, appreciative. Eunwoo was trying to make it up for the awkward situation this morning.

“I haven't even watch the pilot, but s’okay. Put it on.”

The spent the better half of the next hour eating their meal and making stupid remarks at the cheesy lines but still gushing anytime Park Seojoon and Chansung came on screen. Yaebin herself wasn't much of a fangirl, but both of the aforementioned actors were so good looking it was unreal.

They wash their bowl and went back to settle down again, Eunwoo sitting down on the couch but Yaebin still at her desk, slightly unwilling.

“You know we have to talk,” Eunwoo started. And that was it. That was what Yaebin liked so much about her roommate. Eunwoo recognizes things she did wrong and try to straighten it up. Eunwoo who still laughs at overly repeated Vine references, Eunwoo who switches to puppy eyes to get what she wants, Eunwoo who trips over her own toe but most of all, Eunwoo who is mature in so many ways Yaebin wasn’t. Yaebin tried imagining herself in Eunwoo’s place and wilted a little inside when she knew the most likely course of action she'd take was avoid Eunwoo all day.

So yes, they needed to talk. If Eunwoo was gonna start bringing boys in, she'd first had to let Yaebin know.

“That guy this morning was Dokyeom.”

Oh. Yaebin knew about Dokyeom. Eunwoo talked about him sometimes the past three weeks.

“I know you're into him,” Yaebin offered.

“Yeah, and I think it was apparent he's into me too,” Eunwoo tinged slightly pink at this.

Yaebin nodded and raised her eyebrows, “I can see that. So is this gonna be a regular thing now?” she rested her chin on her palm.

“About that. Well. We're still figuring things out but… he's coming again tonight for a movie… if you don't mind of course.”

Yaebin controlled her eyebrow from ticking.  _ Of course she'd mind _ .

“That depends. Are you guys gonna…” Yaebin twitched and the tip of her ears went warm. She was embarrassed to complete her question. It didn't matter. Eunwoo got the point.

“I promise you we'll just eat and cuddle. Probably kiss a lot but nothing more,” Eunwoo raised a palm to her heart in a salute. Yaebin wanted to laugh, except she was still uncomfortable.

But she's willing to give it a try. Maybe they can coexist with boyfriends.

“Okay but you're sleeping on the couch and I get to lock the room to myself.”

Eunwoo squealed and jumped off the couch to give Yaebin a hug, smiled radiant as the sunshine behind her and Yaebin thought it was easy to see why a lot of boys pine after her. Yaebin herself was a walking pale pile of perpetual frowns; who needs layers of clothing once the temperature drops anywhere below 20 degrees. Yaebin, with height not tall enough to see her name on boards back in high school when new year starts. She wondered for a fleeting second if she was ever gonna score a boy to bring into their room instead.

“And you owe me a trip to that expensive steak house,” she said as she hugged Eunwoo back.

-

Dokyeom came knocking at around 7, smelling like passion fruits and bringing boxes of pizza and cheese sticks with him. Yaebin thought he had perpetual smiles and they were so sincere it kinda made her wince. Nevertheless she was grateful for the food. Looked like both he and Eunwoo put a lot of thought into trying to include her and alleviating her probable discomfort. Yaebin appreciated it. They sat down on the floor; all three of them while Dokyeom made an effort to get to know Yaebin and in turn Yaebin making an effort to indulge in the small interactions.

“My roommate is taking the same course as you,” Dokyeom told her after Eunwoo let it spill that Yaebin was taking animation programming.

“Oh. Who is it? I might not know though, there are too many boys taking the course.”

Dokyeom wiped crumbs at the corner of Eunwoo’s lips. Yaebin fought the urge to cringe. Eunwoo looked happy. Yaebin will try to be happy too.

“Kim Mingyu. Our room is on the south wing, fourth floor, room 5,” Dokyeom shared. It was a strange piece of information to share, but Yaebin reckoned maybe he was trying to keep the conversation going.

“Oh. Seen him. Rarely talked though.”

-

Half an hour later Yaebin finished her last piece of pizza and excused herself to the relief of her room. It was super obvious that the two was deep in love, judging by the way Eunwoo’s eyes went sparkling the whole time they were talking and Dokyeom constantly thrumming fingers on Eunwoo’s palm while the were eating. Yaebin felt guilty for curling inside, cringing at the smallest of actions. Maybe she'll too would understand once  _ she  _ falls in love.

Whenever, whenever.

Yaebin can hear the explosion sound effects coming from the living space every here and then; they were watching Star Trek. Otherwise from where she was sitting on her bed everything was calm and quiet. If Dokyeom and Eunwoo was kissing instead of watching, they didn't make it heard. Yaebin decided to continue working on a stop motion assignment that was due in four days time with soft Day6 music playing from her speaker (she'd missed the time when she was playing as a drummer for her brother’s band) when she felt the need to use the toilet. 

It bothered her at first, having to step outside the safety of her room, but if the silence was anything to be trusted the living space was quiet. If Eunwoo really kept to her promise, the worse thing she'd run into was them kissing. Best case scenario? They're both passed out on the couch having eaten too many pizza and drank more beer than they should.

To hell with kisses, Yaebin cursed, her physiological functions were more important.

So she opened the door and-

Eunwoo, long hazelnut hair  all swept to one side had her head tipped backwards, eyes shut and mouth slightly open with both hands tangled in Dokyeom’s hair as she straddled his lap. Beneath her, Dokyeom was planting open mouthed kisses on her slim neck, one hand cradling her cheek and the other probably on her back -Yaebin didn't know, didn't want to know. The overexposed skin from the morning earlier flashed before her eyes.

Yaebin audibly gasped.

Eunwoo immediately tilted her head forward, eyes snapping open before she even processed the situation and Dokyeom turned backwards towards the room.

Yaebin chuckled, nervous.

“Uh, I gotta use the bathroom. You guys just… continue whatever that was,” she scratched her arm. Yaebin knew it, she can't stay there. Even if it was okay with Eunwoo, Yaebin just didn't want to be in such personal interaction even with a wall dividing them. The wall was unable to serve its purpose any longer; Yaebin  _ knew  _ what they were doing and she wasn't okay with knowing it.

When she emerged out of the bathroom, she let Eunwoo knows that she was going to spend the night at Kyulkyung’s instead to discuss a project.

It was a lie because 1) Kyulkyung went back to Incheon to visit her foster family for the weekend and 2) there wasn't a project to discuss about. Eunwoo probably knew one, if not both of those facts, so she said sorry and gave Yaebin an apologetic look as Yaebin went out the door.

She sighed. Yaebin wasn't dressed to go out. Temperature dropped too low for her to tolerate and worse, she got nowhere to be. Most of the people she knew went back for the weekend.

Then after 5 minutes of wandering around she perked up when she remembered the room number Dokyeom mentioned.

Yaebin and Mingyu probably talked to each other twice or thrice before. They were in different circle of friends, never paired up for any assignments, never been put into group projects together and ultimately never found the need to interact. Yaebin shrugged. It's probably worth a try.

Mingyu opened the door after three hesitant knocks.

“Kang Yaebin?”

Yaebin immediately noticed the height difference. She felt short most of the time even with her friends but standing in front of Mingyu made her feel tiny. The second thing she noticed was, well, Mingyu knew her name and recognized her. That’s a good sign.

“Hey, uh your roommate’s making out with mine in my room so uh I-I really got nowhere to be right now. Mind if I crash?” she gripped her laptop harder, trying to find anchor within anything to hold her from the anxiousness. Yaebin knew her cheeks were probably pink tinted by then; both by the cold and the nervous running through her system.

Mingyu’s eyebrows rose, his eyes widening slightly. There was shock, then comprehension and finally sympathy flicking across his face. He smiled so generously that the next thing Yaebin noticed was the prominent canines. Mingyu suddenly looked like a huge puppy.

“Sure. Come in, make yourself comfortable.”

Yaebin walked gingerly into the room, taking in the environment. She’d been in a boys room -Hansol’s to be exact- before, but Mingyu’s room seemed more personalized with various MARVEL posters plastered on one side of the wall along with Sechkies poster near the kitchenette. The room wasn’t tidy, but it was not all over the place either. Yaebin figured that’s probably how boys roll about.

“You can put your stuff on my table,” Mingyu gestured towards his desk by the corner, a Winter Soldier poster plastered directly above it. Yaebin thanked him and put her laptop down, considered a bit before finally inviting herself to sit down on the swivel chair.

“Is instant coffee good?” Mingyu was at the kitchenette, two mugs and coffee sticks in hand. Yaebin jumped. She just wanted somewhere to sit down and do her work; had expected Mingyu to give exactly that, and was clearly unprepared for any form of hospitality.

“You really don’t have to,” Yaebin tried to fight.

“It’s alright. I’m going to stay awake longer tonight. Got the performance report to finish and needed the caffeine in my system. Might as well fix you some,” he laughed. Yaebin’s eyebrows scrunched down.

“...but the deadline was hours ago?”

“Well. I kinda miscalculated my schedule? Better late than never,” Mingyu handed her a mug. Yaebin took a tentative sip before “I can help take a look at the structural content,” slipped from her mouth. Both of them were clearly surprised by this; Yaebin more so at the nonchalance of herself. The corners of Mingyu’s lips curved upwards.

“Cool. I could use a second brain,” he chuckled.

Yaebin booted her laptop up and brought her drawing tablet out at Mingyu’s desk while Mingyu made himself comfortable on the couch, laptop on his lap.

“Do you mind if I listen to some songs?” he asked, eyes glued on his screen.

“Not really. It’s your room,” Yaebin replied, hands already swiftly moving across the tablet.

“Great.”

Yaebin sipped on her coffee again as The Rose blared, soft and rough all at the same time. Both of them fell into concentrated movements driven by the need to finish their work and probably to get some sleep after.

Few Day6, FT Island and The Rose songs later, Yaebin swiveled around in her chair, actually amused.

“You love band idols?” she asked. Mingyu looked up from his screen and turned his head in her direction. Grinning, he said “Well I actually love bands in general but band idols got these lightweight traits to them. Not sure if you could understand me on this one, but I dig them these days.”

Yaebin rolled her eyes and snorted.

“Or, you’re too lazy to look bands up,” she pointed an accusing finger.

“That too,” Mingyu laughed.

“You should try listening to I’ll. Well, he’s not a band per say but I think you’ll like his songs. If you’re fine with English songs I’ll look up some bands in my library too,” Yaebin offered. Mingyu’s eyebrows rose again, impressed.

“You’re into bands?” he asked after drinking the last of his coffee.

“Pretty much. I played the drums for my brother’s back in high school,” Yaebin pulled up her knees onto the chair, resting her chin on top.

“That’s pretty cool,” Mingyu whistled. Yaebin could feel her cheeks tint pink again. Mingyu actually appreciated that part of her. A lot of schoolmates in the past made sexist remarks about her being drummer, saying she could never be as good because she was a girl. Yaebin had proved them wrong countless of times of course but clearly being right wasn’t the point.

“I could put up a playlist for you, if you want,” she smiled, just the tiniest bit.

Mingyu smiled back, “I’d love that.”

Few hours and a finished performance report later, Yaebin found that Mingyu was nice and effortless to talk too. They talked a lot more about few bands that Yaebin personally like, and Yaebin made a call to Hansol for another beta session after she looked the structural content of Mingyu’s report over. Among all the things she noticed about Mingyu also included that he was left-handed. Yaebin liked noticing small things; they keep her grounded.

At some point Yaebin brought up the countless MARVEL posters on the wall and Mingyu fell into an animated flow of all the numerous movies and series he’d repeated over the years as he waited for the new movies to come out one after another. Yaebin laughed as Mingyu’s jaw hung loose when she told him she hadn’t watched any of the movies he talked about except for Captain America: Civil War and Guardians of the Galaxy. Mingyu’s face was a look of disbelief and betrayal, as if not watching -at the very least- the classic Iron Man was the worst crime known to mankind.

By the time they finally finished Mingyu’s performance report and Yaebin reaching the checkpoint of her stop-motion assignment she had intended for the night it was somewhere around midnight. Yaebin stretched in her seat and Mingyu stood to collect the mugs from earlier. Yaebin had made small noise of protest saying she should at least do the mugs since Mingyu made the coffee earlier, but Mingyu had firmly told her to stay put.

“How about in exchange for the playlist you’re about to make for me, I’ll watch Iron Man with you,” Mingyu suggested. Yaebin narrowed her eyes.

“I don’t see how that is returning a favour. You’re basically making me watch it,” Yaebin retorted and Mingyu laughed a little, one palm coming over to hold his stomach.

“You’ll see how big of a favour this is once the movie ends. I’m opening up the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe for you and that’s a big deal,” Mingyu asserted and Yaebin fought the urge to roll her eyes. She looked at the watch on her phone. She definitely had wanted to sleep in earlier than 1 am that night but some caffeine was still running in her system and okay, Mingyu could be persuasive if he wanted to, tall stature made out of a kind heart and excitement sparkling like diamonds.

“I can’t believe I’m saying yes.”

Mingyu brought out two sets of blankets; draping one over Yaebin and went to dim the lights before proceeding to take the other end of the couch. His laptop was set on a makeshift table in front of them with a bluetooth speaker attached to it.

“Ready to be amazed?” Mingyu teased jokingly. This time, Yaebin did not fight the urge to roll her eyes.

“Bring it on.”

They both ended up falling asleep halfway through the movie as Tony Stark realized the betrayal Obadiah had committed against him.

-

The next morning, Yaebin returned to her room and Dokyeom was gone and Eunwoo had apologized and everything was okay again. At least she’s got a place to turn to whenever Eunwoo wanted a date. She could be in Mingyu’s company and drown herself in good music.

They cross by each other in classes but didn’t talk much except for a few casual ‘hey’ and ‘g’morning’. On Wednesday, Yaebin handed Mingyu a pendrive filled with songs so carefully selected from her library and was returned with generous smiles -as generous as when he’d let her in his room the first time- and a friendly squeeze on the shoulder. Their height differences still bothered Yaebin. 

Kyulkyung and Hansol had teased her about suddenly being close with another boy and Yaebin couldn’t help the cherry nose and ears. Mingyu was nice and that was all about it. They’ve only known each other for a week, for the record. Kyulkyung had patted her back during lunch and cooed at how Yaebin was finally getting to know another boy, and a cute one to boot. Yaebin swatted her hand away.

-

Then the next Friday evening came and Eunwoo was all shy eyes and dancing fingers as she told her that Dokyeom was coming over again if she didn’t mind. Yaebin nodded, thoughtful as she packed things up and headed straight for Mingyu’s.

Mingyu was anticipating her.

“I called for Chinese takeaway,” he stated with glee. There was something about his voice, the sparkle of thousands of stars behind them soaking up into his body making his words light and easy and soothing. Yaebin thought she wouldn’t mind if Mingyu made her watch any other movie. Iron Man wasn’t bad; they were both just tired.

“You really don’t have to. I’ll pay for my part,” Yaebin huffed as Mingyu passed her a jjajang bowl. She ate it all the same.

“So I listened to the songs you gave-” Mingyu had started, “-and I absolutely love Snow Patrol and Parachute!”

Yaebin felt her nostrils flaring a bit, proud.

They finished their bowls and fell into an easy banter of best guitarists as Yaebin tried her best to make a point. Mingyu had asked if she had anything to do to which Yaebin had said she needed to finish the tiniest bit of a documentation. Mingyu lit up at that and Yaebin knew he was going to coax her into watching another movie. She let herself be coaxed into it. This could be a regular thing and she wouldn’t mind. Kyulkyung was right; Mingyu was cute.

They started watching Captain America: The First Avenger in the dim light with a bag of jellybeans passed between them. Yaebin brought her knees up close, hands wrapping themselves around her feet as the cold bit her. Mingyu seemed to notice this and layered his own blanket on top of hers. As always, Yaebin made small noise of protest before giving in.

-

She didn’t realize when it happened, but by the time Bucky was screaming as he fell down the train, she was pressed against Mingyu’s side. One hand was hovering over the couch behind them as another grabbed a handful of jellybeans, eyes concentrated on the screen, taking in the apparent death of Sergeant Barnes. Yaebin minded, wanted to mind the proximity between them but Mingyu was large and warm and smelt of coconuts, so she sat put, allowing herself to indulge in the mixed feelings.

Safe space, under Mingyu’s arm. Safe space.

-

Yaebin almost cried when Peggy Carter desperately called out ‘Steve?’ as the comm line went dead but fought back the urge. She fought back a lot of urges, and she’ll win that one too, but then Mingyu’s hand that was hovering on the couch behind them delicately stroked her head in slow, careful motions and Yaebin let a tear or two fall.

“Steve and Peggy deserved better,” she said and hiccuped a bit.

“I know,” Mingyu said softly, still stroking her head.

After the movie ended, Mingyu offered his bed to Yaebin and wanted to opt for the couch instead. She had shook her head vigorously and offered a ‘the couch is fine, thank you’. Mingyu sighed, defeated but not before piling a stack of pillows on the couch for her. Yaebin smiled, grateful.

-

They fell into a cycle of going through the week passing each other by with short greetings before meeting up on Fridays and Saturdays whenever Dokyeom wanted to spend the evening with Eunwoo. Yaebin thought of it as a character progress; coming to term with Eunwoo’s way of carrying out her relationship and warming up a little more towards Dokyeom. 

Not that she didn’t get any help. Mingyu was always opening the door with those sincere smiles of his with lots of takeouts or chicken on the table behind him whenever she comes in (Yaebin made sure to pay for her part everytime). They’d spend the first one or two hours finishing assignments or working on a new chapter to study with songs they exchanged playing in the background. Sometimes they argue about which band would most likely change to which concept and most of the times they reconciled with dumb jokes. Then Mingyu would pull up a new movie to watch and they would just sit on the couch next to each other; a bowl of popcorns or jellybeans in between.

Yaebin thinks she liked him. Yebin thinks she liked him a lot.

She’d fallen asleep on Mingyu’s shoulder a couple of times and Mingyu had gently laid her down on the couch, making sure to stack pillows under her head and bring the blanket up under her chin every time. Yaebin liked to think of it as some sort of indication, a glimmer of hope but held back in fear of plummeting.

-

It was another Saturday but it was also Chuseok. Yaebin did not go back because final was creeping up in more than one way and so didn’t Mingyu. At this point, Mingyu’s room wasn’t a retreat anymore; Eunwoo and Dokyeom had each went back to their respective homes to celebrate the Korean Thanksgiving with their families. Instead, Yaebin liked to chalk it down as a habit. Besides, it was easier to finish work and reports with a fellow coursemate.

Except she probably wouldn’t spend the evening doing her work like she’d hoped.

Yaebin stood there in front of the door waiting for Mingyu to open it, her knapsack dangling from her shoulder and a box of sweetened rice cakes in her hands.

Mingyu opened the door, a sense of welcome in comfort in put in place and greeted Yaebin.

“I brought rice cakes,” Yaebin smiled, “Happy Chuseok.”

Mingyu let her inside and Yaebin’s eyes widened. The place was all cleaned up; torn posters removed and discarded, sink empty from any dish, books put in place on their desks and floor void of any stray strewn piece of clothing. Most importantly, the makeshift table in front of the couch was draped over with a white cloth, various dishes arranged neatly on top of it.

“Happy Chuseok,” Mingyu beamed down at her.

Yaebin set her bag on Mingyu’s desk and went to sit down by the makeshift table. “What’s gotten into you?” she asked, half joking and half amazed by the setting. The smell alone made her mouth waters. “I was thinking since we couldn’t properly celebrate Chuseok, I’d bring the celebration here,” Mingyu explained, sheepish. He put on the radio instead of their usual playlist and let themselves listened to the radio DJ talking about everything and anything, sympathizing with him. Probably couldn’t go back to celebrate with his family too. Duty calls.

-

The food was halfway gone when Yaebin almost choked.

“You made  _ these?! _ ”

Mingyu laughed, head tilted back in amusement before handing her a glass of water.

“Bet you didn’t know that about me. I think I cook pretty great stuff. I’m just lazy to do it most of the time.”

Yaebin silently mouthed a wow and continued to scoop more meat into her bowl of rice. Mingyu reached across the table to tuck a long stray strand behind her ears. Yaebin didn’t bother to hide the blush.

“Wouldn’t want you to eat your hair instead of the mushrooms,” Mingyu teased.

They did the dishes together, Yaebin adamant on not letting Mingyu do all the work alone. The kitchenette was a small space, so they were pressed side by side but it didn’t matter; Yaebin would let herself revel in the moment, just feeling Mingyu by her side. Mingyu didn’t seem to mind.

-

They played an online battlefield game afterwards, sitting on opposite sides of the couch in an attempt to shield their ships from each others’ field of vision. Mingyu won the first two games and Yaebin had kicked his thigh in retaliation and dissatisfaction, unwilling to admit defeat. One of those time Mingyu took hold of her feet and decided to tickle the underside, eliciting even more vigorous kicking and begrudging laughter from Yaebin while Mingyu himself laughed out of amusement. They played another five rounds, Yaebin finally winning two out of them before stopping.

“Movie?” Mingyu called out, languid smile playing on his lips.

“Movie,” Yaebin nodded.

Mingyu came out of the bedroom with piles of blankets, more than usual along an equally high pile of pillows since the season was changing. He went to the mini fridge and brought out two cans of sodas, a bowl of truffle bites and the leftover sweet rice cake the had from the earlier and set them all by the makeshift table. Yaebin went on to the dim the lights as Mingyu worked his way on his laptop.

“So, I’d like to announce that you’ve officially reached a milestone,” Mingyu declared while still setting the movie up. Behind him and on the couch, Yaebin raised one eyebrow, “What?”

“All the movies I made you watch so far lead you up to ...The Avengers!” Mingyu cheered. “The movie isn’t all that great really, but it’s imperative that you watch it before we move on the next phase.”

Yaebin huffed, unimpressed. She had bundled herself up in the blankets Mingyu brought out, hugging one of the pillows. Mingyu settled right beside her, pulling up the ends of the blanket onto his lap and reached out for the truffle bowl.

-

About an hour into the movie, Yaebin sank further into the couch. Mingyu’s right; the movie wasn’t really that great compared to the previous ones they’ve watched. She snuggled against Mingyu’s side and Mingyu automatically brought an arm around her shoulder to pull her closer. For a while they breathed in sync, focusing on the conversation between Hawkeye and Black Widow about being brainwashed.

Then it happened so smoothly, you wouldn’t believe the transition from just looking down at the screen of the laptop to facing each other and then Yaebin was overwhelmed and content and Mingyu’s lips was on top of hers, pressing just so softly. The kiss felt like morning sun; very warm and so inviting and heaven-sent and Mingyu tasted like chocolate and apple soda and all the good things.

Kyulkyung and Eunwoo and Hansol would be so proud of her for not freaking out.

Mingyu pulled back just a bit and opened his eyes, trying to meet Yaebin’s.

“You know, sometimes I think you’re so impossibly cute,” Mingyu murmured on her lips. He brought his free hand to cradle her face, fingertips lightly grazing her ears and palm resting on her jaw.

“I just think you’re impossible,” Yaebin had answered, red cherry very evident on her pale cheeks and neck.

Mingyu kissed her again, this time applying just a little more pressure than the first, hand gently caressing her cheek to tilt her head for a better angle.

“I like that thought,” he said, smiling into the kiss. Yaebin brought her hands to lay rest on Mingyu’s chest, nimble fingers lightly tugging at the shirt front. Details, details -Mingyu was wearing a thick sweatshirt with cuffed around the neck, details; to keep Yaebin anchored. She couldn’t quite believe this yet.

“I like you,” she whispered “-and you probably already know that.”

Against her lips, Mingyu moved.

“I do. And I like you, too,” he assured and carefully guided Yaebin’s hands on his neck. Yaebin needed anchors to keep herself afloat, he knew this. They talked about this. Mingyu would be that anchor.

“You’re so cute,” he repeated, “-from the first time you appeared in front of my door looking like a kicked puppy,” and he gave a tender lick across the seam of Yaebin’s lips, testing things out. Yaebin responded with a timid smile and opened her mouth, albeit a bit hesitant. Mingyu understood and moved slowly into the kiss. They stayed like that in each other’s arms for awhile, movie long forgotten.

They ended up falling asleep on the couch with layers of blanket on top, cozy and warm in each other’s presence, Yaebin burying her face in the expanse of Mingyu’s chest and Mingyu’s face planted on the crown of Yaebin’s head. Long limbs tangled and it could be uncomfortable in a small couch but it was alright, everything was good as they breathe in each other’s heartbeat.

-

The next morning, Yaebin woke up a bit dizzy from overwhelming butterflies in her stomach, and looked up to see Mingyu smiling down at him. They basked in the afterglow of falling in love, content with where they were.

“Hey,” Mingyu greeted.

“Hey yourself,” Yaebin replied.

“I like you.”

“I know. I like you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Whew guess who have a professional exam coming up but decided to write this instead?
> 
> Thanks for reading and comments make me super happy. As happy Yaebin gets when she's snug under blankets.


End file.
